La copa de oporto

Sargent painted this in 1884, the same year his portrait of Madame Gautreau caused such a scandal in Paris that he began thinking of leaving France for good. This is the opposite kind of picture, small and private and unbothered. He was staying in Sussex to paint a formal portrait, and on the side he made this quick scene of his hosts, Albert and Edith Vickers, after dinner. The cloth has been cleared and the port has come out. Mrs Vickers sits lit up at the centre, looking straight at us, her hand near a glass of red, while her husband leans back in near-darkness with his cigar, almost swallowed by the room. Sargent lavished his attention on the tabletop, the flowers and silver and glass catching the low lamplight. The painting's first title came straight from the scene, the glass of port brought out once the meal was done.